I have family and friends with children in the Hillsboro School District. That this issue is taking place here, a rural community about 45 minutes south of St. Louis, is pretty unbelievable. A young man, a senior in high school, has decided to "identify" as a girl and was given use of the gender-neutral faculty restroom. It wasn't a good enough option; he demanded use of the girls's locker rooms and restrooms as well, a move which made the girls extremely uncomfortable. Many students and parents oppose.

[...]Unfortunately, he isn't like other female students because he isn't female. He also doesn't get to determine what's best for hundreds of young girls or judge their reaction. Hundreds of students walked out in protest. The young man claims the girls are bigots for wanting to be comfortable while undressing.

The real bigot is people like you and the transphobic protesters who were opposed to Lila Perry.

HILLSBORO, MO (KTVI) - Students staged a walk-out even though a transgender student at Hillsboro High School has decided to drop out of P.E. class and quit changing in the girl's locker room. It is an issue that educators across the country are dealing with.

High school senior Lila Perry has identified as a female since she was 13​-years-old. In the middle of the school year last year at Hillsboro High School​in Hillsboro, MO, she came out publicly as transgender. ​The school is compliant with Title IX and has gender-neutral bathrooms, ​but Lila decided she's tired of the segregation. She wants to use the girls' bathrooms and locker rooms since she's a girl, but students at her school aren't having it.

Yesterday morning, 150 of Lila's fellow students walked out in protest of her using the girl's locker room in gym class. The walkout lasted for two hours, and Lila stayed inside the principal's office because she was afraid for her safety.

Hillsboro High School in Missouri made nationwide headlines on Monday after hundreds of students held a walkout in response to trans senior Lila Perry's recent use of the girls bathroom and locker room. Some students walked out in support of Lila's decision, while the majority fought against this right.

Lila, who was born male but has identified as a female since age 13, started using the girls bathroom and locker room this year after previously using the gender neutral faculty restroom. Her decision to begin using the female locker room and bathroom has reportedly caused a stir with other girls and parents of students at the school, who say that although Lila wears dresses and a wig, she still has the physical appearance of a male. Lila told local news station KMOV that she isn't convinced that those protesting her are doing it to keep her female classmates safe, as some parents have argued.

“There’s a lot of ignorance, they are claiming that they’re uncomfortable," she said. "I don’t believe for a second that they are. I think this is pure and simple bigotry. I wasn’t hurting anyone and I didn’t want to feel segregated out. I didn’t want to be in the gender neutral bathroom. I am girl, I shouldn’t be pushed off to another bathroom."

Lila nails it. The anti-transgender crowd is doing this hateful act of transphobia for pure bigotry, and not about "safety."